As Canada Post strike drags into 4th week, some Windsor charities miss out on donations

As the Canada Post strike drags on through a fourth week, some charities say they are feeling a negative impact in the middle of the busiest time of the year — and at least one Windsor charity is seeing record low donations.

"We're down at least [$200,000] to $250,000 in donations from last year to this year and that would have been all through the mail," said Rukshini Ponniah-Goulin, the executive director for the Downtown Mission, which operates city's biggest shelter and other services.

"I don't think we have seen this much of a decrease in the past until now."

The mission gets anywhere from 65 per cent to 80 per cent of its donations for the whole year between early November and the end of December, she said, and those funds help the organization provide services through the rest of the winter, when donations are typically lower.

"We've seen a huge decrease this year. It's a little troubling."

She said many people have been dropping by their centres to drop off cheques they would have initially mailed. She is encouraging donors to consider online donations and while they have been receiving more donations via online, it's still not filling the bucket.

"The mission has a lot of senior donors who may not be comfortable with donating online or may not even know that that's an option for them," she said.

Another reason to pivot to online, Ponniah-Goulin said, is that donors will get their tax receipts immediately.

For those donating by cheque, "We won't be able to necessarily mail them back their donation tax receipt until this strike is over."

Ponniah-Goulin worries about the extra strain on their services, since donations have plummeted at a time when use of their food bank is up.

"Unfortunately, more of our community are struggling to make their ends meet themselves," she said, noting how the rising cost of living is also adding to reduced donations.

The struggle resonates with Christine Wilson Furlonger, who runs another organization that helps out the city's most vulnerable. She's the administrator at Street Help, a drop-in centre that provides meals and other supports.

"Our donations have been financially significantly down," she said.

"It's unfortunate for charities like mine and a lot of other charities are experiencing this as well."

Tipping budgets

Wilson Furlonger said many people have been trying to make their way to them by car to bring in their gifts, but "it's still a significant chunk out of the money" needed for their budget.

"We're at about one-fifth of the money that we would have been at this time of year last year," she said.

"It's significant. We're not losing faith though, because everything we built has been on faith."

While it's "a little nerve wracking" to see reduced donations while feeding over 400 people a day, Wilson Furlonger said, their drive to serve people won't stop.

"We're still dragging by. We're not seeing the amount build up. We're kind of staying at a stagnant point financially. So, we need that money to come in at some point."

Furlonger said that could mean pausing their much-needed kitchen upgrades and storage renovations.

A woman dropped by Street Help Wednesday afternoon to hand in a cheque on behalf of her elderly mother — a phenomenon Wilson Furlonger said is happening increasingly as people hand-deliver cheques. But like Ponniah-Goulin, she is urging donors to use online methods. She understands the worry many seniors may have around using online platforms and urges them to choose donations in kind.

Empathetic with the postal workers, Wilson Furlonger wishes for a resolution. 

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which represents the striking Canada Post employees, said in a statement Wednesday, that it empathizes with everyone impacted by the work stoppage. 

"As postal workers, we love serving our communities. The decision to strike was not made lightly coming nearly a year after exhausting negotiations. We want to strengthen and protect our public post office, now and into the future," CUPW said.

"CUPW is prepared to get back to the bargaining table so we can resume the work that we love in our communities as soon as possible."

Donors stepping up

At Windsor Residence for Young Men, it was a similar story until their donors stepped up. 

Jason Weinberg, their executive director, said he has been driving around the city collecting cheques and cash donations. He said he is grateful to the community members who stepped up to support them during the strike.

"Our donors have doubled their contributions and we have already reached more than $40,000, which we would have ordinarily received via mail," he said.

"These donations contribute up to 20 per cent of our overall operational budget. We're hopeful that those donations will keep coming though."